EDITORIAL/Politics of Frustration: Fallon considers leaving Congress for Texas State Senate

U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, has served the people of District 4 — which includes Texarkana — in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2021.

Before running for Congress, Fallon served three terms in the Texas State House and one in the Texas Senate.

His political path was pretty typical — from state lawmaker upwards to Congress. So it was something of a shock on Monday when word broke he was leaving Congress to join the race for his old State Senate seat.

And an even bigger shock when he did an about-face the very next day and chose instead to run for reelection to Congress.

According to an interview published Wednesday in the Texas Tribune, Fallon has become increasingly frustrated that infighting within his own party has hampered its ability to get much of anything done.

He’s not the only one. At least four other House Republicans have announced they won’t seek reelection in the past several weeks for much the same reason.

After consulting with his family and new House Speaker Mike Johnson, though, Fallon decided to stay put.

“There are certainly times where things don’t go as well as you’d like,” He told the Texas Tribune. “But I think under Mike Johnson’s leadership, and maybe I’m just an eternal optimist, I think things are gonna get a lot better.”

Let’s hope so. House Republicans need to get their act together. Not just for the good of the party, but for the good of the country,